Tribe of the Wolves
by Oli511
Summary: Takes place early in the second season. Aang Katara and Sokka are heading for Ba Sing Se in search of an earthbending teacher when they run into and unusual stranger who can possibly help Aang. Kataang will develop!
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Avatar

Chapter 1

Aang, Sokka, and Katara sat contentedly around their campfire after eating dinner.

"Ahh, it doesn't get much better than this my friends," Sokka sighed, patting his bulging belly.

"I don't know Sokka, the world is at war… and I still have to find an earthbending teacher," Aang reminded him reluctantly. He was still trying to figure out what Bumi had meant by a teacher who waited and listened before striking. Who did that??

"That won't be so hard as long as we do what King Bumi said," Katara immediately wanting to ease Aang's burdens.

Aang was about to reply when Sokka abruptly cut him off.

"Shhh, do you hear that?" Sokka whispered, his eyes growing wider.

The group became quiet and listened to what sounded like a herd of rhinos closing in on them.

"How could they have found us?" exclaimed Sokka exasperatedly, already starting to shove their supplies in a bag.

"Wait," Aang stopped him. "It sounds like they're already chasing someone… or something."

"Well let's not stick around to find out," Sokka yelled and jumped on Appa.

Out of no where something big and furry crashed through their campsite. Despite its size, the creature agilely weaved through their campsite, not stepping on anything. And it was gone. Just as quickly as it came.

Moments later a group of fire nation soldiers, all on rhinos, plowed through their campsite, not even aware of their presence. They were in hot pursuit of whatever they were chasing.

"Well that was random," said Sokka at the same time he lost his balance and tumbled off Appa's back.

"C'mon, we've gotta help it!" said Aang, his glider already open and ready to go. Without waiting for a response, he was gone.

"GAAHH!! Come _on_! Does he really have to help some animal that will probably have us for dinner if we saved—" Sokka complained, but Katara was already off to help Aang.

"Of course," he grumbled to himself. He yanked his boomerang out of his bag and took off after the other two.

Aang flew high above the chase and tried to get a better look at the animal. It was nothing he had ever seen before and looked to be a wolf of some kind.

"No, it can't be; the thing's as big as a platypus bear…" Aang thought to himself. What ever it was, the Fire Nation was after it and it needed help. Aang looked back at the wolf and saw that it had collapsed and the soldiers were gaining. He flew down lower and dropped between the wolf and the soldiers, sending a large gust of air flying at the soldiers. They flew off their animal and were stopped for the time being. Aang turned to the beast, "Let's get out of here!"  
Aang had been right; it was a wolf and a freakishly large wolf at that. It seemed to understand exactly what Aang had said and was immediately on its feet. Wow. The wolf's head was even with his.

The animal turned lightly on its haunches and took off, despite its obvious pain. Aang flew beside it and suddenly a ball of fire whizzed passed his ear, narrowly missing his head. More came and one nailed the wolf in one of its powerful rear legs. It howled in pain and once again dropped to the ground. It seemed to be completely drained of energy and ready to give up, but Aang wasn't.

Aang stood his ground as the herd of rhinos charged towards them. It looked as if they would run Aang right over when, out of no where, came a wave of water, followed by a relieved Katara. She bended some water up to her hands, ready to fight. The two fought off the soldiers, protecting the wolf. They finished the last one together, not realizing the threat that was creeping up behind them. All they heard was a loud thump and turned to see the last soldier lying at their feet next to a boomerang.

Katara worked her palms that were incased in glowing water, over the animal's wounds.

"It's tired, probably running for days dodging those soldiers," she told the others in a concerned voice.

"Is it going to die?" Aang asked her softly.

"No it's going to recover; we were able to help it in time."

"Why would you even want to help it?!? The thing probably has rabies or something and will kill us all if it wakes up!!" Sokka asked them.

"I'm not sure. I kind of just acted on instinct back there. Something drove me to go after it and I just can't put my finger on it, but it's special, I know it." Aang tried to explain it as best he could.

"You just _know,_" Sokka repeated dubiously.

"I know what you mean Aang. There's something strangely human about it," Katara said looking at the creatures face. Katara ran her healing water once more over the wounds.

"There, that should be good for tonight—" She pulled the water back and it seemed to pull the wolf up with it. The three gasped as the wolf began to change.

It was taking the form of a young girl, fourteen years old maybe.

My eyes flew open. I winced, expecting the pain to come immediately, but it didn't. I looked around and realized I was not alone. In one fluid movement I was in a defensive crouch, a hostile snarl escaped my lips. I faced three children, my eyes resting on the oddest looking one. He was bald with arrows running up his arms, legs, and head. The memories flooded back right away. This was the one who had saved me. I relaxed my stance slightly, suddenly realizing something. Horrified, my eyes had fallen on my bare human arms and hands.

"Its Ok," the bald one was telling me in a soothing voice. "We're your friends! My name is Aang, I'm the Avatar, and these are my friends Katara and Sokka."

It took me a couple seconds to realize they were looking at me expectantly like they wanted me to respond.

"My name is Lupin," I stated, a hostile edge still hung in my voice.

"So why were those soldiers so focused on capturing you that they were completely oblivious when they passed the Avatar?" Katara asked me.

I deliberated whether or not I should trust them for a few seconds while studying their faces that were overwhelmed with curiosity. I figured I could trust the Avatar.

"It is a very long story," I warned them.

"We've got plenty of time," said Sokka.

The tree watched the mysterious girl as she began her story.

"I come from a tribe of people whose ancestors can be traced to the Southern Water Tribe. We are the Wolf Spirit Tribe and my people possess one gift that is not like any other human being on this earth. Thousands of years ago, two lovers who were not allowed to be together eloped. They had stumbled upon a large island that was not far from the South Pole. The land seemed uninhabited, so the two settled there. What they did not know was that an angered spirit lived there by the name of Taha Aki. He was angry because hunters from the Southern Water Tribe had killed off all of the mortal wolves living on the island for a sport. The two terrified lovers begged for mercy from the mighty spirit, saying they would do anything to make up for the crime their people had committed. When it seemed as though the spirit would kill them, he over shadowed the man and the woman. Instead of killing them, he gave then each a piece of him that made the two like him. They phased into wolves and roamed the land. They became the first wolf people and eventually made a pack. The wolves didn't know how to control their powers and were very dangerous. Later one of their more civilized children was able to collect himself enough to phase back into a human. He taught the others and they were all able to become human again. But their tempers were short and if they lost it, the fights could be deadly. It was generations before my people became practiced in controlling their powers and became more civilized. Our pack became more like a tribe and it has been for many, many years." Lupin finished her tale and paused for a breath before answering Katara's question.

"A few years ago, that group of Fire Nation soldiers some how found out about our tribe and began trying to capture us as if we were some kind of trophies," she said in a disgusted tone. "And if you think I'm big, you should see our warriors. They protected us and kept them away, but the troops steadily began to grow. The firebenders burned down our village and took the lives of many of our loved ones. Every wolf in our tribe was fighting, including me, but it was becoming too much. My mother made a safe escape for me in a desperate attempt to save her only child." She stopped for a moment when her voice broke, tears streaming down her face.

"When all hope seemed to be lost, we heard a deafening roar, a bright stream of light shown on the site where the battle took place.

"'NEVER AGAIN WILL MY PEOPLE BE WIPED FROM THIS EARTH BY YOU HUMANS,'" The furious roar had come from Taha Aki.

I was far from the battle, but at the sound of his voice I turned in amazement.

"'YOU SAVAGE FOOLS WILL DIE BEFORE EVER HAVING A PRAYER OF FINDING THEM! COME MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!'" his voice boomed, echoing for miles.

"At that, my people, all of my friends and family vanished along with the light. I ran faster than I ever had before. I returned to my abandoned village. It was burned to ashes.

"Taha Aki, you have forgotten one of your sisters!" I howled painfully. When nothing happened I howled again.

"'Sister, I have not forgotten you,'" Taha Aki said to me appearing before me. He was the biggest wolf I have ever seen.

"'The other spirits have kept me from taking you as well because you are to serve a vital purpose in restoring peace to this world at war. I will be with you, where ever you are, help will come'"

"With that Taha Aki vanished and I set off looking for the reason I am still here. During my journey the soldiers found me and began to hunt me. They have been chasing me ever since. I am lucky to be alive. Thank you for healing me," she said turning to Katara.

"You're welcome," the other girl told her warmly.

"Wow you weren't kidding. That was a really long story!" said Sokka.

"So do you know what your purpose is yet?" Aang asked.

"Nope. I just have to trust Taha Aki to guide me," she said simply.

"Oh well, you can come with us if you want to! We travel all around the world!" Aang said excitedly. He was intrigued by the girl who was also a wolf.

"I don't know…" she bit her lip. It would be nice to not have to travel alone and have some help fighting off those soldiers. But did she really want to put them in danger like that after they so kindly helped her?

"You don't have to answer right away," said Aang quickly not wanting to pressure her.

"I think she could be very good for our group," Sokka said. "Wolves are good at hunting right? She could capture us some MEAT!"

"Shut up Sokka, we want her to join so she stays safe," Katara told her brother irritatedly.

"I guess I could see how it goes," Lupin said slowly. Maybe this is what the spirit wanted her to do.

"Alright we should all get some shut eye. It's getting really late," said Katara.

The rest agreed and made themselves comfortable.

"Sorry Lupin, we don't have any more sleeping bags…" Katara said feeling guilty.

"That's ok, I'm more comfortable on the ground," she reassured her.

Lupin took a breath and let the heat travel down her spine. Her body gave her what she wanted right away without thinking about it. She was a wolf again and she sighed contentedly. Being a wolf was what was familiar to her and she preferred it to being human. And it was ten times more comfortable than a sleeping bag.

Ignoring the other three's stares she curled up into a ball and laid her head on her paws.

"Good night," she told them happily.

**That's what I got so far. This just kind of came to me so sorry if it's a little sloppy. Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own these characters (except for Lupin!!) or Avatar: the Last Airbender

Chapter 1

Lupin's POV

"Uh, Lupin we gotta get up now," the cautious voice I heard was Aang's, I could tell.

"Alright," I mumbled. "Jus' give me a second."

I got up slowly and stretched out my stiff muscles. I yawned hugely and looked around. The rest of them were getting ready and packing, except for Sokka who was still curled up in his sleeping bag.

"Sokka, get up!" Katara said, annoyed.

But Sokka just moaned and turned over.

Katara's expression looked extremely annoyed. Suddenly her expression softened into a smug smile. She waterbended some water from some animal skins strapped to her back. With some force, she hurled the water at Sokka's head causing him to yelp and leap to his feet.

"Great you're up! You can strap these to Appa's saddle," Katara told him brightly.

Sokka grumbled irritatedly, but did as he was told. I could tell Sokka wasn't a morning person.

"So where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"Ba Sing Se, Aang has to find an earthbending teacher," Katara told me.

For a moment I remembered one of my closest friends.

"Yeah and last night you never met my flying bison, Appa!" Aang said excitedly. "Thanks to him we get around the world really easily."

"Wow, so we'll be flying?" I said somewhat uneasily.

"Yes but Appa is a real easy flyer. It's not so bad if you don't look down," Aang reassured me.

"So what kind of an earthbender are you looking for," I asked casually as a human once we were in the air again. I shouldn't get my hopes up; Aang probably wouldn't want an earthbending teacher like the earthbender I had in mind.

"At first I thought my friend Bumi would teach me, but he is imprisoned right now. When we tried to bust him out, he told me he had to remain in his city so he could wait for the right time to take it back. He told me to look for a teacher who waits and listens before striking," he explained to me.

My heart momentarily skipped a beat as I realized my best friend fit his requirements perfectly.

"Um, what would you say if I told you I knew someone like that?" I asked.

"Do you?" Aang said giving me a funny look.

"Yes, but she's blind. Still an amazing earthbender though," I added the last part quickly.

"Great, we'll talk to her!" Aang said excitedly. I was overjoyed that I would be seeing my best friend again.

"But how do you know this girl if you live on an island?" Sokka wanted to know.

"Just because we live in a secret tribe of wolf people doesn't mean we have no access to the rest of the world. We know about the war and the Fire Nation and the Avatar." I informed him.

"We met a long time ago. She used to run away a lot and I did too. She had trouble with her parents and I was going through a hard time coping with my wolf part. The problems don't exactly relate, but we had each other. We met in a cave and I probably would have died if she and the badger moles hadn't helped me out." I explained. "Her name is Toph," I added, realizing I hadn't told them her name yet.

"How did she help you get out if she's blind?" Aang asked curiously.

"The same way the badger moles did. They are her teachers and they understand each other because they're both blind. The badger moles taught Toph how to earthbend not only as a martial art, but as an extension of her senses. She feels the vibrations in the ground as is able to "see", just not the same as we do."

"That's amazing," Aang said with his voice full of awe.

"So where to we find this girl?" Sokka asked as the four of them stood in the middle of a busy market.

"Well I'm not exactly sure. I've never been to her house before. What?" They were staring at me like I was crazy.

"You might have mentioned that before!!" Sokka fumed.

Just as I was about to give him a really good comeback, a man came up to us and put his arm around Aang.

"Hey kids, you like earthbending? You like throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy!" He told them in a business-like voice. He gave us a friendly smile, handed Aang a piece of paper and walked away.

"Look there's a coupon on the back! The First lesson is free," exclaimed Aang.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find Toph at this Master Yu's Earthbending Academy!" Katara said.

"I don't think so…" It didn't sound like somewhere Toph would hang out.

"Well we have no leads so I say we check it out," said Sokka.

"Just to be sure," Aang added.

So Aang went in to see if he could find Toph by attending the first lesson. Several minutes later, Aang came back out looking dejected.

"I don't think she's in there," he said as he shook some gravel out of his ear.

"I think The Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6," came the voice of a boy who was walking out of the lesson with another boy.

"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at The Blind Bandit," the other boy argued.

"The Blind Bandit? That could be Toph!" I exclaimed.

"Excuse me," Aang called after the two boys politely. "But where exactly is this earthbending tournament?"

"It's on the Island of Nunya, None-a-ya business!" the two boys burst out laughing and walked away.

"Ha HA ha ha! Ahh, I gotta remember that one!" Sokka laughed as Aang hung his head.

"Don't worry Aang; I'll take care of this! Hey strong guys, wait up!" Katara called sweetly, running after the two obnoxious boys. She returned moments later with an excited expression on her face.

"Get ready guys, because we're going to Earth Rumble Six!" she said.

"How did you get them to talk?" Aang wanted to know.

"Oh, a girl has her ways…" She said with an evil smile.

We walked into a huge arena with bleachers surrounding a large platform that was raised from the ground. Spectators cheered wildly, but not of them sat too close.

"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here," just as Aang finished his sentence, a huge rock hit the bleachers, narrowly missing us.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked him with a hint of sarcasm.

Just then a man jumped into the ring, his voice boomed, "Welcome to Earth Rumble 6!! I am your host, Shin Fu!" The crowd cheered in response.

Katara sighed, "This is just gonna be a ton of guys chucking rocks at each other isn't it?"

Sokka grinned. "That's what I paid for."

"The rules are simple; knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!" Shin Fu announced to the crowd. He earthbended himself up to a seat that was the highest in the arena. "Round one, The Boulder versus the big, bad Hippo!"

Two huge muscley guys stepped to the ring and The Boulder roared to The Hippo, "Listen up, Hippo, you may be big, but you ain't bad! The Boulderis gonna win this in a landslide!"

And the tournament went on, The Boulder beating every opponent setting foot in the ring. I was getting a little concerned about Sokka though. He was getting a little too into this. The Boulder sent one of his opponents flying into the rock next to us and Sokka yelled at him.

"YEAHH WOOO!! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the DIRT! YEEEAAHH!!!" He yelled at the man.

The Boulder kept beating the fighters until finally the man was announcing the champion. I immediately sat up. This might be Toph!

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for, The Boulder versus the Champion, The Blind Bandit!!

We all leaned forward a bit as the fighter rose to the ring holding the champion belt.

"That's Toph!" I blurted, immediately recognizing my best friend.

The crowd was going wild so we could barely hear what was going on down below.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl," The Boulder said, again talking in third person.

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder," she retorted.

"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings and now he is ready to burry you in a rock-alanch!!"

"When ever you're ready, The Pebble!" She let out an evil laugh.

"She's the girl from my vision!" Aang whispered in amazement.

I wasn't surprised of course, but Toph beat The Boulder and very easily knocked him out of the ring.

"AWW NO!" Sokka whined when his hero fell. We all glared at him.

"To make this a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" Shin Fu shouted to the crowd. "What? No one dares to face her?"

Just then Aang got to his feet and before any of us could stop him, he was headed for the ring.

"I will," Aang told him happily.

"Go Aang, avenge The Boulder!!" Sokka shouted after him. Katara glared at him and I snarled which made him scoot away from me.

"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" Toph scoffed.

"Ooooo," the crowd said.

"I don't really want to fight you; I need to talk to you."

"BOO, no talking!" Sokka shouted.

"Don't boo at him!!" Katara said outraged and smacked him hard on the arm.

Toph made the earth under Aang jerk upward, sending him in the air. But Aang bended the air around him and floated slowly down.

"Where'd you go…" Toph muttered.

Just then Aang landed. "Please, wait," he pleaded.

"There you are," she said as she bended a rock and hurling it toward Aang.

Without thinking, Aang used airbending to shoot one gust at the rock and the other at Toph sending them both flying out of the ring.

Immediately sorry for what he did, Aang hurried after the earthbender who was storming out of the ring. "Please, I need an earthbending teacher and I think it's supposed to be you!"

"Who ever you are, just leave me alone," she replied tersely. She earthbended a hole in the wall and disappeared, slamming it shut behind her.

"Wait!" Aang shouted after the earthbender in vain; she was already gone.

"Aww man, we lost her," Sokka whined once he had calmed down.

"I'm sorry, I should have got her attention," I said feeling guilty. "She would've stopped and listened to me."

"It's fine. We can just go back to that earthbending academy. It sounded like those guys knew a lot about her," Katara reassured me.

We headed back to the school and sure enough the two boys were there.

"Aw great, you again," one said narrowing his eyes.

Katara faked a lunge at them and they whimpered and flinched in response. "Yeah, I didn't think so," she said with a smug expression.

"Nicely done," Sokka smirked and I stifled a laugh.

One of the boys saw Aang and a look of recognition crossed his face. "You're the kid who beat the Blind Bandit!" he exclaimed.

"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asked.

"The Blind Bandit is a mystery. She shows up to fight and then disappears."

Aang hung his head in disappointment, but Katara wasn't finished with them.

"Let me handle this," she told him kindly. Then she turned to the boys with a threatening look.

"You're not telling us everything," she snapped.

"No, no I swear it's true. No one knows where she goes or where she lives," he said nervously.

"That's because we're asking about the wrong person. In my vision I saw a girl in a white dress and a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?" Aang asked hopefully.

"Well the flying boar is the symbol of the Be Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world," answered the boy who wasn't cowering behind the other.

"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter," the other piped in.

"A flying boar is good enough for me. Let's check it out!" Aang said already heading for the exit. We started to follow, but heard one of the boys mutter something under his breath.

"Yeah you better leave," he said.

"Hey, I got my eye on you," Katara warned them before walking out.

"Water Tribe," Sokka whispered dramatically before following his sister. I just rolled my eyes and pushed him out the door.

**Ok yes most of this came from the original episode where they met Toph, but I just couldn't change it!! And it's so classic Sokka lol love it R&R XD**


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